Former Maharashtra minister Anil Deshmukh released from prison

Mumbai: Former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh was released on bail from Mumbai's Arthur Road prison around 5 pm on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, the Bombay High Court had refused to stay its order granting him bail in a corruption case registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation.

Deshmukh (73), a Nationalist Congress Party leader, had been in prison since November 2021 when the Enforcement Directorate arrested him in an alleged money laundering case.

"I have full faith in the judiciary....the high court has observed that I was implicated in a false case," Deshmukh said, as senior NCP leaders including Ajit Pawar welcomed him outside the jail.